Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

Psychosocial Notebook, Volume 2, October 2001
tunities at different levels of risk and social exposure, from smuggling to
prostitution, and includes drug dealing and thug recruitment for the bloody
settling of disputes. In Brindisi, the level of homicide is the highest in the
entire region, while the number of bank robberies is the lowest [see report
“Brindisi città di frontera”].
The local Catholic Church is open to inter-religious exchange and promotes
multiculturalism. It might be considered one of the agents of social
solidarity, with a focus on immigrants and refugees, even though it operates
in a culturally secular context. According to a local survey, only 44 per
cent of the citizens of Brindisi believe in the Catholic after-life, while an
unexpectedly high 5.5 per cent believe in reincarnation. Citizens of both
sexes seem to subscribe to a pragmatic concept of life and choices, which
includes a different and positive view of values like hospitality, solidarity,
and volunteer work. In a recent survey conducted in Brindisi, 54 per cent
of the respondents gave great importance to solidarity, almost half indicated
inner strength as a value that was important to them, while faith was
chosen by only 20 per cent, and success/money, by only 2 per cent. These
seem to be the values held dear by a people who were candidates for the
Nobel Peace Prize, because of the generous welcome they extended to the
refugees.
While during the war, in 1999, Kosovar Albanians were the most prevalent
group in Brindisi, finding those who had not yet returned to Kosovo in the
summer of the year 2000 proved to be a very difficult task. I was assisted
in my search by a women’s helpcentre located in Brindisi, which referred
me to Emanuele Polito, the person who manages the Citim (a shelter for
refugees in Mesagne, where no Kosovars remained at the time) and to Don
Peppino, the head of the San Vito Church.
As I later found out, the Kosovars who had remained in the Brindisi area
were “special cases” – people who had a specific reason to delay their
journey home. One family, which had originally agreed to be interviewed
but later declined, included a pregnant woman about to give birth. Another
of the families I interviewed was in the process of packing. They were
planning to fly to Kosovo the following week, despite the poor health of
the mother, who was suffering from thrombosis. The members of the other
family I was able to interview had only just become refugees officially.
Most of them needed long term medical attention because of severe
injuries suffered during the war.
I therefore interviewed the members of two families. The first family was
made up of a wife, her husband, and their four children. I held separate
interviews with the mother, the father and with their teenage daughter, who
speaks fluent Italian. In the second family, I interviewed a couple with two
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